Hello!

My name is Jake and I was born and raised in Seattle. I got my first K bike a little over a year ago from a barn in Castle Rock, WA where the bike sat for a little under five years. It didn't run and the guy had no clue what could be wrong with it. It turned over and the compression was good so I got it for a steal!

Six days later I got the bike running perfectly well and took it to Aurora Suzuki to get some new Metzler's (the tires were totally rooted) and I've been riding it almost every day since. 

After some close inspection late last year I noticed that much of the frame was rusting, mostly under the cowl. Knowing that I needed to do a full spline lube, check the clutch, replace gaskets, and generally top down maintenance I decided to put my man pants on and strip the entire thing down. 

Right now it is completely disassembled and some parts are at Seattle Powder Coat for stripping and coating, and the engine is in a million pieces. I've used a cup brush to strip all the rust off the aluminum and I'm using VHT engine enamel to bring back that cast aluminum sparkle. 

Anyway, there are a few things I anticipate needing help with, do expect to hear from me soon. 

Happy riding/wrenching

Jake

Welcome Jake,

The K sure has got hold of you fast. Some of us are tempted to clean it all up, works for you guys that cant use the bikes in the winter but we can which means they never get off the road for all these loving jobs.

Yours is going to look good I guess and put a few of us to shame.

When you can pop a few photos and things and sooner or later you will find more K riders in your area to meet up share a story and a beer or two.

Surprised you took the engine to a million pieces because they go forever and a day. But its a good chance to renew all the rubbers and hoses and perishable stuff, a wise move.

Welcome neighbor!
You're well located.  There are some very knowledgeable K-bike rider in your immediate area.
(mind you, I do not include myself among the knowledgeable, but I'm learning.)  

welcome jake

enjoy the experience

Hi Jake welKome to the Knuthaus.

Welcome.

Where are you in Seattle?

What year/model?

Hi Jake,

Welcome. It sounds like you've got quite a project on you hands - it would be good to see pictures of your progress in the renovations section.

I admit to having a quiet, guilty shudder on reading how the bike is in a million bits - my first bike several moons back (it wasn't a K, it wasn't even a Beemer - so what does it matter?) a Honda VT500 got to a stage where it was burning oil faster than petrol (gas), so I took it on myself to fix it and ended up with the bike in a million bits. Long story short, those million bits (like so many projects, I suspect) got mixed up during a house move and never made it back together again. I hope you've bagged and tagged everything to make your job easier.

Good news though - you're in the right place for help and key parts still seem to be reasonably well available. 

Keep the faith, enjoy and get riding.

Paul

Wow.  Thanks for the great responses!

As far as the bike being in a million pieces, don't worry!  I've taken a great deal of advice from this forum and others, from users such as the legendary SmithDuck, and YouTube videos from Chris Harris to know that bagging and tagging, as well as photo documentation and the Clymer's manual, are required.

I'm not 100% confident in everything (who ever is?) but I'm glad there's a community out there for this great bike.

Expect to see a post from me soon with pictures of the teardown of my 1985 K100RS!

One quick tip: not sure how well known these are, but an eBay user by the name desmoparts sells a 352 piece screw/bolt kit for the frame and body parts, and a 94 piece bolt kit for the engine and surrounding bits (excluding the unique screws that hold the cylinder and crankcase covers on).  These kits are meticulously bagged into groups complete with instructions.  So if you're like me and accidentally got brake fluid onto the Sharpie on the bags you labeled, these kits will not only look better, they'll save your bacon!

Welcome. Can't wait to see the pics of all the parts laid out!  

Welcome mate.